A perceção dos cidadãos face aos agentes de segurança privada

Abstract

In the most recent decades, there has been a sharp rise of the private security sector in most European countries, as well as all over the world and Portugal was no exception. The growth of this sector has led to a progressive recruitment of private security agents. Available studies and statistics suggest that the number of private security agents in our country has increased significantly in recent years. Currently, private security agents are present in most places where public life takes place. Despite this, very little is known about the citizens' perceptions and level of satisfaction with private security agents. This paper sought to review the citizens' level of satisfaction with private security agents, as well as their perceptions about: (i) the work of private security agents; (ii) the professionalism and integrity of private security agents; (iii) the image of private security agents; (iv) the powers of private security agents; (v) the relationship between private security agents and police officers; (vi) the regulation of the work of private security agents. To achieve these goals, we used a self-response questionnaire to a non-random sample of 163 individuals in the district of Porto. Overall, results indicate that citizens in the sample expressed satisfaction and a predominantly positive or neutral perception about private security agents.